work attendance

[midlifecrisis64]

A member of staff was in a car accident on Thursday evening. There were 2 passengers in the car. I spoke to said staff member on Friday to check that they were okay. They assured me that they were, a bit sore, but nothing major.
I'm a part-time member of staff and upon returning to the office on Tuesday, I was informed that the staff member wouldn't be in. They also did not present for work again this morning.
I telephoned the staff member and was informed that they're okay, but have taken time off as there is a lot of paperwork and telephone calls to be had to deal with the accident as there were other people involved.
I feel this is taken the pi5S and given it was not a serious accident, they've been cleared by their doctor, there should be no reason why they didn't return to work on Monday.
I have a meeting tomorrow, but whilst I need to show support and compassion, I feel that the Mon to Weds needs to be taken as annual leave?

[WinterCat]

I think you were on dubious grounds to ring them up once they’d already called in sick. Being cleared by their doctor doesn’t mean they haven’t gone on to have whiplash symptoms etc and whilst it does sound from what you have said as though they took the time off purely for admin purposes, you need to prove that and since they can self certificate you’ll find it hard to do so unless they admit it.

[TARSCOUT]

I sort of agree but she could easily SC with stress from the accident and that's 7 days so 3 I would.just work with.

[ElderAve]

In what context are you involved?

As a line manager I'd be checking that they're really OK - sometimes people can struggle with the "what if" depending on the circumstances of the accident.

If they were really wanting time to deal with the admin, I'd tell them they could take/make calls at work, maybe give them a morning.

If they're saying they're not well enough to be at work, I don't think there's really anything you can do about that until they need a certificate and IME if you make a fuss, they will get a certificate from the doctor for stress as a result of the accident and be off even longer.

[DameXanaduBramble]

Why did you ring her once she had rung in sick. You’re on very dodgy ground there. Are you her manager? Back off.

[midlifecrisis64]

No dodgy ground. They sent me a text message about the accident and asked me to call. Yes, I am the line manager for this person.

I had to call this morning to discuss as they technically went AWOL with no update as they had originally said they would be back today. Our organisation states that people have to alert before the start of the shift if they will not be in.

There are no injuries and they themselves said it's been purely to do with admin and they've been signed fit by their medic on Monday.

I have checked from a compassion point of view and to see whether there is any additional support.

[DameXanaduBramble]

Drip feed!

[cabbageking]

They didn't phone in sick so what policy is in place for absence not for sickness?

[m0therofdragons]

I had an accident and worked from home the following day. I was really shaken and a bit bruised and honestly just wanted to curl up in my pjs and hide. Can't imagine needing more time than that though. There's hardly any paperwork these days. Mine was all over the phone as there was no dispute (my fault).

I'd consider compassionate leave or offering employer opportunity to take annual leave.

[DameXanaduBramble]

The paperwork wouldn’t be through that quickly - and, as has been said, it’s all done over the phone anyway. My injuries after a crash came out afterwards, stupid bloke wrote my car off, I felt shaky and quite unwell. You can self cert for 7 days, so please, get off her case.

[DameXanaduBramble]

You should know, as a manager, you deal with these things when the employee returns?

[EggysMom]

Whilst you can self-cert for 7 days, this workplace may still have a policy which says you have to advise your line manager each day that you are sick. From what I've read, this employee has not done that: contact was made on Friday, but no contact has been made Mon/Tues/Wed until the OP called them, and in that conversation the employee is not saying that they are off due to sickness. On that basis, they should probably be given the choice of using annual leave or taking it as unpaid.

However. Why didn't the OP, when speaking to the employee earlier today, have this actual conversation? Surely it could have been cleared up during that call - "are you off sick, or are you taking these days as annual leave?" closely followed by "do you know when you might be back?".

[lollybee1]

Sorry I think you are bang out of order. Her physical condition is only half of it. She is obviously a bit consumed with the aftermath. Give her peace for a few days and quit whingeing. Even if she came in, she probably would just be distracted.

[Mlou32]

To be honest, I'm the kind of person that would be like 'I'm fine, I'm fine' while really not being.

I wouldn't push it. Imagine she was a few weeks pregnant and had lost the baby in the crash but didn't want to say...or any other kind of inadvertent kind of harm that he/she didn't want to discuss. If they were taking the piss then surely they would just say they felt really rough and would milk it for all it was worth.

I'd leave it.

[underneaththeash]

I also think it's taking the Mickey. Not bothering to call in sick would be a disciplinary situation in most firms.

[ragged]

I hope they turn up tomorrow, OP....

People are grown ups. They shold be treated like such. I don't like all this second guessing "Oh but xyzabc might be happening." People should own their issues or have a good excuse why they can't communicate.

If no clearly reasonable excuse for the lack of comms, then taking annual leave is fully reasonable.